This summer Cork County Council and Cork Water Safety joined forces to organize water safety information days at locations across Co. Cork.
These open days provided members of the public with an engaging display of the combined efforts to prevent drowning; from the Beach Lifeguards on the front line to the water safety lessons taught during the winter months.
This was a combined effort between the Cork Water Safety Committee represented by Chairperson and Public Relations Officer, Siobhan Bradley and Graham Kerr; the Cork County Council represented by the Water Safety Development Officer, Caroline Casey; and Beach Lifeguard from across the county. Councillor John Paul O’Shea, Mayor of Cork County Council, was also in attendance at the Information Day on Inchydoney Beach.
They took place on Inchydoney Beach, Clonakilty in the Inchydoney Hotel and by the Lifeguard Station on Tuesday 11th August; on Garryvoe Beach, Castlemartyr in the Garryvoe Hotel on Wednesday 12th August; for the Owenahincha and The Warren Beach area, Rosscarbery in the Celtic Ross Hotel on 14th August; and for the Garrettstown and Garrylucas Beach area, Ballinspittle in Garrettstown House on 11th August.
The topics discussed on the day were:
– Beach Flag System & Opportunity to play Water Safety awareness board games.
– 14 steps to keeping safe around water.
– Movie Clip on Dangerous Currents.
– Workshop by local Beach Lifeguard Team on Beach Safety.
– Exhibition of equipment & examples of incidents that the Beach Lifeguards respond to.
– Weather & Sea Conditions
– What to do if you get lost at the beach
– How to make an emergency call.
The water safety pack consisted of a coast guard folder, wristbands, lifesaving magazine and much more.
This initiative was a great fist step towards a combined effort of drowning prevention in Co. Cork. Thank you to all those involved, and thank you to Lisa Kerr for the photography.
